Benchmarking
for Health Care
MCHS Medical Library Pathfinder
INTRODUCTION
This pathfinder leads the way to select databases, electronic resources, books and articles, and other key library resources relating to benchmarking in health care. If you know of other quality benchmarking resources, which should be included, please let the Medical Library know. (Medical.LibraryMC@conehealth.com)
Benchmarking Glossary, from Creative Ideas and based on one published by the Benchmarking Exchange
An
Introduction to Benchmarking
The purpose of this 2000 document is to provide a general
introduction to benchmarking. It reviews what benchmarking is,
why we need to benchmark, the types of benchmarking that can he
used, and illustrates the major steps involved in a benchmarking
project.
Successful
Database Benchmarking: What Do We Need?
Richard B. Backiel II, BS Journal of Healthcare
Information Management, Vol. 15, no. 2, Summer 2001
This article educates and informs healthcare facilities about the
factors that should be considered when comparing their own data
with those of other hospitals in an on-line benchmarking database
warehouse.
Ambulatory
Health Care Data
CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics Ambulatory
Health Care Data site offers information on the NAMCS (National
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey) and the NHAMCS (National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey). Data highlights
include data on utilization and provision of ambulatory care
services in hospital emergency and outpatient departments.
Also available are public-use data files.
Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD
(301) 427-1364
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) mission
is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness
of health care for all Americans. Information on this site
includes Clinical Information, Funding Opportunities, Research
Findings, Quality & Patient Safety, specific population
groups, and Data and Surveys.
Healthcare
Cost and Utilization Project, HCUPNet
HCUPNet, a service of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization
Project, is an on-line query system that gives “access to
health statistics and information on hospital inpatient and
emergency department utilization.” HCUPnet's
step-by-step query system allows you to generate tables and
graphs on national and regional statistics and trends for
community hospitals in the U.S.
AHRQ National
Quality Measures Clearinghouse
Tha National Quality Measures Clearinghouse provides
information on specific evidence-based health care quality
measures and measure sets. It contains a glossary of terms used
in the standardized abstracts and sections on “Using
Measures” and “Selecting Measures.”
AHRQ Quality
Indicators
The AHRQ Quality Indicators series, which includes the Inpatient
Quality Indicators, Prevention Quality Indicators Patient Safety
Indicators and Pediatric Quality Indicators, are measures of
health care quality that make use of readily available hospital
inpatient administrative data.
2008
National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR)
This is a comprehensive national overview of the quality of
healthcare in the United States and is a companion report to the National
Healthcare Disparities Report. The NHQR is built on 220
measures assembled across four dimensions of quality -
effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient
centeredness. The 2008 report focuses on the state of
health care quality for a group of 45 core report measures
“that represent the most important and scientifically
credible measure of quality for theNation.” The
purpose of the report is to track the state of health care
quality for the Nation on an annual basis.
The Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
administers the Medicare program, and works in partnership with
the States to administer Medicare, Medicaid, the State Children's
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and HIPAA
(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), CLIA
(Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments), and several other
health-related programs. The section for Research.
Statistics, Data, and Systems provides a
number of data sets.
The
Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group is a consortium of major companies and public
and private organizations that provide health care benefits for
their employees. The mission of The Leapfrog Group is to
encourage advancements (“giant leaps forward”) in
safety, quality and affordability of health care by
“supporting informed healthcare decisions by those who use
and pay for health care and promoting high-value health care
through incentives and rewards.” Brief comparative
data, geared for the consumer, from the Leapfrog Hospital Quality
and Safety Survey is available at: http://www.leapfroggroup.org/cp.
All hospitals are welcome to participate in the Survey.
National
Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD (301)
458-4636
The National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention is the nation’s principal
health statistics agency, compiling statistical information to
guide actions and policies to improve the health of the American
public. The
National Health Care Surveys (NHCS)
are a family of provider-based surveys designed to meet the need
for objective, reliable information about the organizations and
providers that supply health care, the services rendered, and the
patients they serve. These NHSC Surveys include:
North
Carolina Center for Health Statistics
SCHS is responsible for data collection, health-related research,
production of reports, and maintenance of a comprehensive
collection of health statistics to provide high quality health
information for better informed decisions and effective health
policies. The State Center is responsible for collecting,
analyzing, and disseminating timely, comprehensive, and accurate
health statistics. It is a central collection site for
information about, among other subjects, cancer, birth defects,
births, deaths, marriages, and divorces.
ORGANIZATIONS
Many professional organizations have benchmarking information and
data pertinent to their own discipline. Be sure to check
the web site of your own professional organization.
The
Advisory Board Company
The Advisory Board provides, for its members, services which
include research, executive education and leadership development,
decision-support tools, and consulting. The Advisory Board
Company serves more than 2,800 health care organizations.
Advisory Board Membership programs include Strategy and
Operations Research, Clinical Research, Advisory Board
Academies’ Leadership Development, Business Intelligence and
Analytics (Compass Programs), OptiLink Workforce Performance,
Health Care Industry & International Offerings, and H*Works
Consulting.
American
Productivity and Quality Center
This membership organization, APQC, works with its member
organizations “to help them adapt to rapidly changing
environments, build new and better ways of working, and succeed
in a competitive marketplace.” Research and services
include, among others, custom benchmarking, best practices
research and the Knowledge Base research Library.
This Knowledge Base provides access to thousands of articles,
case studies, presentations, and more. Limited free access
to the APQC Knowledge Base and some for-a-fee content is
available for non-member.
ASQ: American Society for Quality, Central North Carolina Section 1109. “The mission of the Central North Carolina Section of ASQ is to promote the use of the principles and tools of Total Quality in Central North Carolina businesses and public institutions, and to be a comprehensive source of quality-related information to our membership and community.” Under the section, Quality Topics, Six Sigma, several articles are listed; access to a few may be available without membership, although registration may be necessary.
Association
for Benchmarking Health Care
A service of The Benchmarking Network, the ABHC was created to
share benchmarking information. The purpose is “to identify
"Best in Class" business processes, which, when
implemented, will lead member companies to exceptional
performance as perceived by their customers.”
Membership is free.
Accreditation
Association for Ambulatory Health Care
The Accreditation Association, a private, non-profit
organization, currently accredits over 4,000 organizations in a
wide variety of ambulatory health care settings, including
ambulatory and office based surgery centers, managed care
organizations, as well as Indian and student health centers,
among others. It develops standards to advance and promote
patient safety, quality and value for ambulatory health care
through peer-based accreditation processes, education and
research. Accreditation is awarded to organizations
that are found to be in compliance with the Accreditation
Association standards.
The
Joint Commission – Quality Check
Quality Check is a comprehensive guide to health care
organizations and programs (Joint Commission accredited or
non-accredited) throughout the US. Quality Check provides
information about the comparative performance of these
organizations, including hospital performance measure results,
free through access to Quality Reports. Quality Reports
contain relevant and useful information about the quality and
safety of Joint Commission-accredited organizations.
Hospital Compare
This US Department of Health and Human Services tool provides
information on how well the hospitals in a defined geographical
area care for patients with certain medical
conditions (including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia,
chronic lung disease, diabetes in adults) or surgical
procedures. Hospital Compare has quality measures on how
often hospitals provide some of the recommended care to get the
best results for most patients. Hospital Compare was created
through the efforts of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) and organizations that represent hospitals,
doctors, employers, accrediting organizations, other Federal
agencies, and the public. Under the tab, Data Details,
there is information on the data and how it is collected, for the
professional as well as for the consumer.
Institute
for Healthcare Improvement
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a not-for-profit
organization, is designed for health care providers and
organizations that are seeking to improve the care they
give. IHI provides a range of resources and teaching
tools to help health care professionals lead and manage effective
improvement efforts at their organizations. The IHI
Topics (Critical Care, End Stage Renal Disease, HIV/AIDS,
Medical-Surgical Care, Patient-Centered Care, Patient Safety,
etc) are the core around which content is organized. Each
Topic features the best available knowledge for improvement in
that area, including tools, literature, and changes that can be
implemented and measured to help speed improvement in the
organization.
DATABASES
Most of these databases provide access to the literature of the
field.
The Cochrane Library is a unique source of reliable and up-to-date information on the effects of interventions in health care. The Cochrane Library consists of a regularly updated collection of evidence-based medicine databases:
Access to the Systematic Reviews, DARE, and the CCRCT are available, without a password, through the MCHS Medical Library website, Medline (Ovid) when on a MCHS campus.
CINAHL – CINAHL is available from on campus through the MCHSL Medical Library homepage and choose “CINAHL (Nursing)”. (No password is needed when on campus.) The Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health (CINAHL) database provides coverage of the literature related to nursing and allied health. Some citations link directly to the full text of the article.
MEDLINE – Medline is available through Ovid from on campus or through NLM’s PubMed. Access both through the MCHSL Medical Library homepage. MEDLINE is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, the health care system, and health services administration. The full text of some articles is available.
HEALTH BUSINESS JOURNAL COLLECTION, Available through the AHEC Digital Library, Database of 130 full-text business, health care, and health business journals. Access to this resource is available for MCHS employees or for NC health care practitioners through a paid membership in the AHEC Digital Library. Please contact the Moses Cone Health System Library for further information.
US Government Statistical Resources: to locate the agency or dataset you need, try:
NEWSLETTERS
Ebenchmarking
EBenchmarking, a service of The Benchmarking Network, is an
newsletter provided via e-mail and available free to individuals
employed by corporations or governmental entities who are
involved with benchmarking. “It is intended to provide
information about benchmarking to the business community,
including information about new benchmarking studies.”
Healthcare Benchmarks and Quality Improvement. Monthly newsletter. American Health Consultants. The print copy is available in the MCHS Medical Library, Cone campus, and through the CINAHL Plus database. Emailed Table of Contents of each issue is available; contact the Medical Library for this service.
Modern
Healthcare
The journal Modern Healthcare is a source of healthcare
business news that provides hospital executives with up-to-date
and comprehensive healthcare news. Modern Healthcare also
publishes a daily e-mail newsletter, Modern Healthcare’s
Daily Dose. For alerts to news as it happens, Modern
Healthcare Alerts emails or RSS news feeds are available.
PUBLICATIONS / REPORTS FOR PURCHASE
American Medical Association, Chicago (312) 464-5000
The
Physicians Consortium for Performance Improvement
The mission of the AMA Physicians Consortium for Performance
Measurement includes improving the quality of care and patient
safety by developing and testing evidence-based clinical
performance measures and measurement resources for physicians.
Fasttrakk
Benchmarking Studies. The Benchmarking Network
A service of the Benchmarking Network, Fasttrakk
studies are “focused on real measures from selected
companies to fulfill short-term requirements.” Their purpose
is to identify "Best in Class" business processes,
which, when implemented, will lead member companies to
exceptional performance
100
Top Hospital Studies. Center for Healthcare Inprovement,
Thomas Reuters.
The 100 Top Hospitals Performance Programs objectively identifies
the highest performers in the nation. Available studies
include the 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks, 100 Top
Hospitals: Cardiovascular Benchmarks, and 100 Top Hospitals:
Health System Quality/Efficiency Benchmarks.
HealthGrades:
Guiding America to better healthcare.
Health Grades, Inc. is a healthcare ratings company.
HealthGrades provides ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing
homes and physicians to consumers, corporations, health plans and
hospitals. Consumers can find free hospital information on this
site, including how they are rated.
SIX Sigma
Making
Customers Feel Six Sigma Quality
A brief overview of the Six Sigma process, from GE.
This site also includes brief descriptions of the Key Elements of
Quality, the Six Sigma Strategy, and a Six Sigma
Glossary of Terms and Definitions.
National
Association for Healthcare Quality
JHQ 174--Lean Six Sigma in Healthcare, by Henk de
Koning, John P. S. Verver, Jaap van den Heuvel, Soren Bisgaard,
Ronald J. M. M. Does. March/April 2006. “This
article outlines a methodology and presents examples to
illustrate how principles of Lean Thinking and Six Sigma can be
combined to provide an effective framework for producing
systematic innovation efforts in healthcare.”
The
Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare.
http://www.centerfortransforminghealthcare.org/
The Center works to solve health care’s critical safety and
quality problems. It “uses Lean Six Sigma and change
management tools and methods to identify the most pressing safety
problems, measure their impact, discover their causes, develop
specific solutions that are targeted to each important cause, and
thoroughly test the solutions in real-life situations.”
There is a link under About Us to information on Lean Six Sigma.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Health Care
Innovations Exchange.
The AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange promotes sharing and
adopting innovative tools to improve health care. The site
offers a “central repository of searchable innovations and
Quality Tools that enable health care decision makers to quickly
identify ideas and tools that meet their needs, a standardized
description of innovations and Quality Tools, and opportunities
for learning and networking with like-minded adopters of
innovations.” The following link takes you to Six
Sigma Innovations Profiles and Quality Tools: http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/searchSummary.aspx?term=six+sigma
Patient Safety Network
The AHRQ focuses on patient safety through its Patient Safety
Network. A search for Six Sigma on this site results in a
“list of citations for articles, presentations, and
commentaries that have been noted as related to Six Sigma.”
6 Sigma
Health Care Benchmarking Association
The 6 Sigma Health Care Benchmarking Association (6SHCBA™),
a service of the Benchmarking Network, is an association of 6
Sigma professionals within major health care companies and
provides members with an opportunity to identify, document and
establish best practices through benchmarking to increase value,
efficiencies, and profits.
iSixSigma.
isixSigma provides free information resources designed to help
business professionals successfully implement quality within
their organizations. There are several free
newsletters offered (including one for healthcare), Six Sigma Q
& A, a dictionary, discussion forums, a SixSigma calculator,
news items (with a RSS feed), links to Six Sigma events, and
“channels” for various topics, including Healthcare and
Financial Services. (A PDF version of iSixSigma information
is here.)
VHA
VHA has a program, Healthcare Lean Sigma 2+2, “specifically
designed for members of the VHA in partnership with Sigma
Breakthrough Technologies, Inc. to provide Green Belt and Black
Belt training in Lean and Six Sigma methodologies” within
the organization.
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a nonprofit organization that strives to improve healthcare. Many organizations using Six Sigma have reported projects to IHI. A search in this site on “six sigma” retrieves links to a number of articles and other information on Six Sigma.
Updated: 12/09